This invention relates to sweepers, and more particularly to a self-contained magnetic sweeper arranged to capture loose magnetic objects from floors, yards and construction sites as the sweeper is moved over the surface. Specifically, this invention relates to my earlier magnetic sweeper disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,038, issued 4 October 1983, and provides an improved but simplified sweeper construction that is significantly more versatile in its range of uses.
The above identified patent is considered to be the most pertinent prior art in connection with the present invention. However, the patented device involves a complicated and rather expensive construction requiring inner and outer longitudinal reinforcing ribs and cross ribs, a plurality of individual, magnet-containing pockets each having its own front, rear, bottom and separate, spaced apart side walls, and a sweeper body/wheel-axle configuration that is arranged specifically to present the magnet pockets at various heights above a floor surface depending on rotational orientation of the sweeper body about the axis of the axles. Although operation of the magnet sweeper in collecting metallic material from a floor is satisfactory, it's complex, multi-surface construction renders the device difficult to be cleaned of metallic material that has been captured by the sweeper, and removing this material from the sweeper involves a time consuming and inconvenient operation. Moreover, the earlier construction is not convertible to form functional, wider units and therefore requires a plurality of molds in order to provide sweeper units of different widths.
Also of general relevance to the present invention is my U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,376, issued 27 February 1990 entitled Metal Catching Cover, in which is disclosed a multi-pocketed cover member configured to removably cover the outer surface areas of the plurality of individual magnet pockets of magnetic cleaning devices of my earlier invention. This cover construction is very strictly limited to the particular configuration of the particular cleaning device that it is to be used with, e.g. different sizes and types of magnetic cleaning devices require specific, correspondingly different cover member.